Salvageable
by Car45
Summary: What became of the destructive boy who learned the toys secret


It had been a long day, no discarded toys this time. Just trash.

It had become a life's mission. One the, as far as he knew, no other human would understand. Good thing that he had friends who did.

As he pulled into his driveway, he reflected on how that mission started; with something right out of a horror movie. He'd had nightmares about the Woody doll who had told him to "Play nice!"

It wasn't until he started to throw his toys away that it occurred to him; Was he putting a living thing in a trash can?

A Grinch doll he once mended told him, in a perfect Boris Karloff voice, "You're just like me. Well my character I mean. Something happened to make you a better man."

It was true. He said to himself, "Thanks Woody."

Sid got to his front door. Collecting garbage may be a nasty job but it paid well enough for him to have a place of his own. He walked in to be greeted by people who did understand and appreciate his personal mission, the toys.

As he stepped in, he was greeted by all manner of toys. "Hi Sid." They all shouted. Then of course their running joke, waving their hands, those that had then, in front of their noses, again those that had one, and yelling "Shower! Go!"

"All right, all right, I'm going." He had to admit they were right. He didn't exactly smell like a bed of roses when he came in.

At first, he wasn't sure they could even really smell. But the ones he knew best, the ones that had chosen to stay with him after being fixed and cleaned up, swore that they could. He had no reason to doubt them. After all they were really his only friends.

He tossed his clothes in the hamper, although Skeletor has suggested burning them. He got in the shower and, quite deliberately started singing as badly, and loudly, as he could. "Oh, HOME, home on the range..."

After drying and getting into some comfortable clothes, he went out to the living room to relax for a while before supper. The toys then did as they always did as he walked in. They all called out "Hail King Moonracer!"

He gave an exaggerated bow, saying "Arise sir loin of beef...Earl of cloves... Milk of magnesia."

"Getting your cartoons mixed up aren't you," Mira said.

_'How ironic, _Sid thought, _that the first toy to choose to stay with him had been from the same cartoon as one of the last ones he had tried to destroy all those years ago._

"Ha, yeah, I guess so," he said as he plopped down on the couch and turned on the television. Looking at the space ranger he suggested, "how about an episode of Buzz Lightyear?"

"Just not the wedding episode. I hate that dress."

Sid smiled. While Buzz was strictly a boy's toy, Mira was meant to be both an action figure and a fashion doll. Her space suit snapped off and she could be put in all kinds of outfits, including the hideous dress from the episode they were talking about.

"Is that they only reason you stayed here? So, some kid wouldn't put you in that dress?"

"Oh, you know that's not true. I stayed to help."

He nodded. After he had found the parts to fix her, she wanted to stay and help other toys, join his cause so to speak. She'd been there to calm frightens and confused toys while Sid was away at work and let them in on the fact that Sid knew they were alive. She was really a remarkable assistant.

"How about a lift up?" Skeletor asked. Sid reached down and lifted both the not so evil villain and the ranger to the couch.

The other two members of his permanent group, an Elsa and a Kristoff doll, were making their own way up. Kristoff had come with climbing gear and was making his way up while Elsa hung on to him.

_Too bad she didn't have actual ice powers_, Sid thought. But then it would be convenient if Mira could really fly to.

Sid had noticed that a lot of figures from "Buzz Lightyear" had to be convinced that they were in fact toys, including another Mira doll he had found. It had been kind of hard on her. But of course, she had faced her identity as a toy by the time she was found, broken, in a trash can. He walked in one day to find the Mira doll and Elsa chatting about all their characters could do that they, as toys, could not.

Skeletor, watched as Kristoff helped Elsa up to the couch as they shared a very tender look. "What's the story with those two? Isn't he supposed to be with the other girl?"

Sid looked at him, "Aren't you supposed to be a scheming villain?"

"Point taken." The hyper-muscled doll said. "So, he fell for the wrong sister?"

Sid shrugged. "He would say that it was his movie counterpart who chose the wrong one. They chose to stay and help me rather than risk being separated."

"Very romantic I think," Mira said.

"Yeah, kind of is," Skeletor said. Then he said to Sid. "Mira told me that you weren't always one of the good guys yourself."

He sighed. "Yeah. I kind of enjoyed playing a super-villain type or Bond villain" He chuckled. "Or maybe more of a Doctor Frankenstein type." He went on to tell the Masters of the Universe character about the day that a cowboy doll led the toys in an uprising against him. Mira spoke in his defense. "He didn't know."

Sid continued. "I was terrified. I was planning to throw all of them in the trash. But then it occurred to me that I was throwing living things away. How would I feel, unable to move or speak and taken to the dump to rot...I found out later that they actually put all of the trash in the incinerator, so it was even worse than I'd thought...Well instead of throwing them out I spoke to them, with the door closed of course." He paused. "I apologized. I promised to fix them and donate them to a toy drive if they didn't want to stay. I gave Hanna's doll back and apologized to her to. That was when she and I started getting along better. Well since then that's what I've been doing. I got a job with Tri-County Sanitation. When I find discarded or broken toys, like you were. I bring them home to clean and repair them. Then I give them away." He smiled. "With a couple of exceptions."

Skeletor wasn't designed to show emotion but he seemed to be in thought over what he'd heard. Sid said, "Well onto more pleasant subjects." He went back to looking through the TV listings. "Oh, hey, Galaxy Quest, I haven't seen that in years." With a chuckle he said, "I had such a crush on Gwen DeMarco when I was a kid." He turned to Mira. "Did you know that Jason Nesmith did the voice for Buzz in the cartoon? Well the premier anyway. Also recorded the voice for the toy."

"No, I didn't know that," she said. "Can you find out who did my voice?"

"I'll look it up this evening," he said as the show started.

After the episode ended, Sid put the remote on the couch and told the toys. "Watch whatever you want. I'm going to find something in the fridge...Oh a week from Saturday I'm taking some toys to the Salvation Army donation center. You want to go Skeletor?"

The action figure looked up at him, paused and said, "actually, no. If it's okay with you. I think I'd rather stay; Become one of the good guys."

Sid nodded and went to make his supper.


End file.
